Mother of all deals: buy one baby, get four free

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New York: With her stomach stretched to the size of a beach
ball, Teresa Anderson is reminded every day of the surrogacy deal
that she hoped would swell her family budget.

The Arizona mother of four is in the late stages of a pregnancy
that will deliver five babies to a childless couple who would have
been happy with one.

Doctors say the quintuplets, the world's largest known multiple
surrogate pregnancy, are all doing well, although one will need
heart surgery after birth. The same cannot be said of Mrs Anderson,
who complains of "five times the swelling and five time the mood
swings. My back is strained. It's hard to walk. Breathing is even a
problem."

At 25, Mrs Anderson has four children of her own, including two
she gave up for adoption as an unmarried teenager. After making a
deal with Luisa and Enrique Gonzales, she was implanted with
several foetuses, with a 30 per cent chance of a single
pregnancy.

She met the couple after they advertised on a surrogacy website.
Mrs Anderson, a nursing student, convinced her postman husband,
Jared, that it would be an easy way to earn $US15,000 ($19,500)
since in her words, "I was just going to be pregnant".

Mrs Gonzales had been trying to conceive for nine years.

It was during a routine ultrasound in January, with Mrs
Gonzales, 32, at her side, that doctors broke the news. As the
number of heartbeats grew, both women burst into tears, with Mrs
Gonzales moaning: "I just wanted one," and Mrs Anderson crying
"Sorry".

Now 31 weeks pregnant, Mrs Anderson will deliver the babies, all
boys, by caesarean section at the end of the month.

The pregnancy has taken its toll. At 1.7 metres she has gained
32 kilograms and can hardly stand, and sleep is almost impossible.
Her two- and three-year-old daughters are living with her
mother-in-law because she can no longer look after them.

The Andersons have decided not to charge the surrogacy fee. "She
has five children coming to her, and that is not cheap at all," Mrs
Anderson said.